


Motel Cortez

by king_mino



Category: Winner (Band)
Genre: Headcanon, Horror, Mental Health Issues, Other, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 21:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8302352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/king_mino/pseuds/king_mino
Summary: A trip, a grin, and a motel. They chalk it all up to the mystique of Halloween.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 185: WOT5 on a roadtrip. They stop by a ‘seedy’ motel for the night.
> 
> Please be advised before reading: this story contains dark and sensitive themes.

( _Nobody goes out for Halloween with the intent of not being scared. There is something deep down in all humans that revels in the feeling of goose bumps trickling up skin, cold sweat pressing against shirts as fear backs us into corners. We search harder in the dark for whatever thumps in the night, double take behind us when the feeling of being watched cracks through our subconscious too strong to ignore. We like this feeling, whether we like to admit it or not._ )

In the small city of Gwangju in Gyeonggi-do about an hour outside of Seoul, Gongjiam Psychiatric Hospital sits in erred silence amongst the swaying trees. Marked by shattered windows, long hallways, and black shaded corridors, it seemed to be the perfect destination for a Halloween trip.  
  
Seunghoon clicks through the pictures online, brows furrowed and absentmindedly chewing on his thumb nail. One blog describes the abandoned facility as having dilapidated ceilings that have fallen onto rotten beds and tables, literature scattered down hallways, old telephones, straitjackets, remnants of large fires, and random piles of debris collected into small piles.  
  
“Perfect,” he pops his thumb out of his mouth with a smile.  
  
“No,” Mino grunts from behind his ear. The noise is so close it makes him jump. “There is no way in _hell_ I am going there.”  
  
“Don’t be a baby.”  
  
“That place looks like the devil lives there.”  
  
“Don’t be dramatic.”  
  
“There’s no way,” Mino pulls the strings on his jacket to wrap his hood around his face before he shakes his head, a genuinely concerned look on his face. “I’m not going.”  
  
Seunghoon pushes past him to grab the articles hot off the printer. He thumbs through them. “You don’t have a choice. You all agreed to let me plan this year’s fall trip and this is what I’ve decided to do. You have to go. It’s a tradition.”  
  
“Why couldn’t you just plan a fishing trip in Busan or something, like Jinwoo-hyung?”  
  
Seunghoon arches an eyebrow. “Have you seen Train To Busan?”   
  
“Okay. Yeah. It doesn’t have to be Busan. We could go to Jeju.”  
  
“We’re going to Gwangju. We’re breaking into this mental institution on Halloween. That’s what we’re doing,” Seunghoon coos as warmly as possible, thinking that maybe a pleasant tone will make the idea seem less irrational. It doesn’t.  
  
“Do you know how crazy you sound?”  
  
“Yes,” he tosses the articles onto the desk. “But it’s Halloween, dude.”

 

 

Breaking it to Seungyoon is a similar experience. He whips around in his chair so quickly Seunghoon worries for a second that he’s sprained his neck. The studio speakers quiet and Seungyoon gives him a look, upper lip pulled up from his teeth and eyes squinted.  
  
“We’re going _where_?”  
  
“Gongjiam Psychiatric Hospital.” Seunghoon bounces on his heels with a tight-lipped smile. There’s quiet in the room, Seungyoon’s eyes still squinted in suspicion.  
  
“You’re abusing your power,” he finally says and swivels the chair all the way around. “When we said autonomous rule over one trip every year, this is not what we meant.”  
  
“It’s not my fault you all picked boring trips.”  
  
“Our trip to Busan last year was not boring. I caught a lot of good fish and I came back with a tan. My legs looked amazing.”  
  
Seunghoon sighs, a laugh hiding somewhere in the noise. Everyone on instagram knew just how proud Seungyoon was of his newly tanned legs.  
  
“Listen, Mino reacted the same way but the only reason I’m running it past you is out of courtesy for our friendship. You can’t change my mind or change the course of the trip, but out of the goodness of my heart I came to tell you about it first.”  
  
Seungyoon leans his chin against his fist for a while, staring off into the distance. “A promise is a promise, I guess.”  
  
“Spoken like a true leader.”  
  
“But if we die….” He trails off, eyes squinted. “I will not take responsibility for that.”  
  
Both Seungs sit across from each other in the quiet studio, lips tucked into closed mouths, heads nodding.  
  
“Noted.”

 

  
 

***

 

 

As head -- and sole member -- of the trip planning committee, Seunghoon takes the driver’s seat on October 30th. Taehyun sinks into the passenger side, Mino and Seungyoon flank each other in the middle, and Jinwoo stretches out in the most comfortable spot in the back. Just as dusk settles across Seoul, they head out for the hour-long drive to Gwangju.  
  
“Taehyun wasn’t freaked out at all when I told him,” Seunghoon turns the music down to taunt Mino and Seungyoon. “He was very rational about the whole thing.”  
  
With his knees pulled up to his chest and headphones plugged into his ears, Taehyun glances at Seunghoon with a smirk. “What is there to be scared of?”  
  
“Ghosts,” Mino and Seungyoon say in unison before they give each other a look and erupt in an equally synched up fit of laughter.   
  
“No such thing as ghosts.”  
  
“Not true,” Mino shakes his head. His eyes are wide and his mouth forms an almost perfect oval, lines creasing along his forehead like they do whenever he’s particularly concerned about something. “When I was eleven, I woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. When I was walking out of the kitchen I caught something black scurry across the room in the corner of my eye. When I looked over to see what it was, I saw a shadowy mass just standing against the wall. It was looking right at me. I could feel its eyes.”  
  
Taehyun pulls his headphones out of his ears. “Were the eyes shadow?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“It was a shadow person. Were the eyes shadow too or did they look like human eyes?”  
  
Seunghoon snorts. “Like, just a huge shadow person with really pretty eyes sitting in the middle of its face.”  
  
“I didn’t see the eyes,” Mino runs his hands through his hair, taking the jokes in stride. “I _felt_ them. That’s how I knew it wasn’t human. It felt different.”  
  
“You felt it, huh?” Seunghoon gives him a look through the rearview mirror. “You touched it? You got intimate with it? I’m curious. I’m just trying to get the facts straight.”  
  
Always one to come to Mino's defense, Seungyoon juts his head into the front of the car. “Stop it. I believe him. Ghosts are real.” He gives Mino a clap on the back. “But what do you think, Jinwoo-hyung?”  
  
From the back, Jinwoo shifts his position toward the center of his seat to join the conversation.  
  
“I haven’t seen a ghost before, but I do feel like they’re real. I’ve read that energy can’t be destroyed so it makes sense that when we die our souls get left behind here.”  
  
Mino showers him with a look of admiration. “Very scientific, hyung. Very nice.”  
  
At that, Seunghoon decides to reign in the conversation with a resigned tone. “Okay, well I hope you all are right. I hope we get to see a ghost tonight. We only have to drive forty minutes to see.”  
  
“Can I take it back?” Mino says quickly. “I don’t think ghosts are real.”  
  
“No Mino,” Seunghoon and Taehyun say in unison this time. “You can’t take it back.”  
  
“How did you even find out about this place?”  
  
“The internet.”  
  
Seungyoon flips his cellphone back and forth in his hands and shakes his head. “No, the real question is why you’re subjecting all of us to this.”  
  
“In order to function fully as human beings, I believe we should feel the full range of human emotions,” Seunghoon replies smoothly. “We’ve experienced happiness, laziness, fishiness, autumness on all the other trips we’ve been on but we’ve never experienced fear. I think it’s about time.”  
  
“Autumness is not an emotion. I’m pretty sure you just made that up.”  
  
Seunghoon shrugs. Taehyun turns to face the back of the car. “I agree with hyung. There’s a weird introspective quality about fear. It’s good to really think about what scares you.”  
  
The two in the front share of look of mutual appreciation. Mino and Seungyoon share one of increased skepticism.  
  
“Just tell us about Gongjiam already,” Jinwoo chuckles from the back. This had become their routine: one pair ribbing the other while Jinwoo watched on like a real older brother. It was a nice dynamic. Seunghoon adjusts in his seat, face lighting up in excitement.  
  
“The hospital closed down fifteen years ago and nobody knows why. Rumors are that patients, and eventually even staff, began dying out of nowhere. The authorities shut down the hospital after the mysterious deaths and everyone vacated so quickly it was left like a ghost town. Beds, clothes, equipment all strewn about. Some people say if you look at certain walls you’ll see new hand prints show up in the dust. None of the locals go near it.”  
  
A chill settles into the car and the boys watch in silence as the sky begins to blend into a mix of ocean blue and midnight. Night descends and the crowded streets of Seoul slowly turn into the rural banks of Gwangju. The city isn’t much different from Seoul; florescent lights cast the pavement a subtle mix of blue and pink. The streets slowly empty out, coats and scarves hugged tightly against shivering skin. It isn’t until they reach the near countryside when Seunghoon gets lost.  
  
“Just pull over at a gas station and ask the attendant,” Taehyun suggests after they’ve circled the same apartment building for what seems like the twentieth time.  
  
“How am I supposed to get to a gas station? I have no idea where the hell we are.”  
  
“Just ask that guy over there,” Jinwoo’s voice floats through the van. All heads turn toward the side of the street where they find an elderly man packing up what looks like a flower stand.  
  
Taehyun cranes his neck in disbelief. “We’ve circled this same street like fifteen times. Why didn’t see him before?”  
  
“Guess we weren’t looking hard enough.”  
  
They pull over. Seunghoon rolls down Taehyun’s window. “Excuse me, sir.”  
  
The man turns slowly, lidded eyes drifting up to the boys’ faces. He smiles.  
  
“We’re lost.”  
  
“Where did you come from?” He asks, syllable staggered and voice sounding like gravel. He’s dressed in the usual countryside garb – the ubiquitous balloon pants, loose shirt, and sun hat. His skin is tight and leathered across his bones. His smile is warm, but his eyes feel empty.  
  
“Seoul."  
  
“I’m selling flowers. Or I was,” he glances timidly at his stand. Dahlias peek out from the back of his car. “I’m all cleaned up now. Sorry.”  
  
“Oh, that’s fine. We were just wondering if you’d give us some directions. We’re lost.”  
  
“Lost? This late in the night?”  
  
“Yes sir.”  
  
“Don’t call me sir. Call me Jihoon,” the man says and stretches his lips across yellow teeth to give the boys an uneasy smile. Dusk settles into the sky and casts the lines of his face a dark blue.  
  
“Jihoon-ahjussi,” Seunghoon says carefully, patience thinning at the circular conversation. “Sorry for bothering you, but can you give us directions to Gongjiam Hospital?”  
  
“Gongjiam?” The man says the word like it’s a sin, wincing back on his heels and away from the car. He turns around abruptly and shakes his hands to gesture them away. “No.”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“No!” The man shouts, his back still turned. “No. Go away. There is no Gongjiam here. Go back to Seoul.”  
  
“But—“  
  
Jihoon quickly lifts up a green flower pot filled to the brim with fertilizer, whips around faster than his physical countenance would suggest he could, and hurls it at the back window where Seungyoon has his nose pressed against the glass. It makes a jarring _crack!_ and the boys erupt in surprised shouts.  
  
“No!” He bellows again, reaching for another pot.  
  
“Get the _hell_ out of here." With gritted teeth, Taehyun pushes against Seunghoon’s shoulder to snap him into reality. They peel away so fast the wheels of their car make an echoing screech and the boys whip around to watch Jihoon as they speed away. They expect to see him race after them with more pelting fodder poised in his hand but he just stands in the middle of the road staring as they leave.  
  
“What the hell was that about?” Breathless, Seunghoon struggles to keep his hands from shaking against the steering wheel. Mino is practically curled into the fetal position in his seat. Taehyun keeps his eyes in the rearview mirror watching as the man disappears behind them.  
  
“I’m pretty sure that was a bad omen,” Seungyoon’s voice shakes.  
  
Taehyun rolls his eyes. “It was just a weird person on the side of the road. We’re driving around asking for directions to a place that locals know people trespass into all the time. And on Halloween. Of course some of them would be annoyed.”  
  
Seunghoon stretches his shoulders back and heaves in a deep breath, calming himself with Taehyun’s rationalization. It makes sense. He laughs a little, surprised that he had let himself fall into the Halloween fervor.  
  
“Taehyun’s right. But we’re still lost.”  
  
“Just keep driving and we’ll get somewhere eventually.”

 

It's another fifteen minutes of aimless wandering before their headlights illuminate a shadow strolling on the side of the street. The night sky has darkened and the street lights come few and far between. Seunghoon feels a strange pull at the pit of his stomach.  
  
“Pull over and ask him,” Taehyun says.  
  
“I don’t know…”  
  
“Don’t pull over,” Mino and Seungyoon’s voices fight over each other. “Not after what happened last time.”  
  
“So you want us to keep driving around with no idea where to go?”  
  
“To be honest with you, I just want to head home.”  
  
Seunghoon pulls his lip under his teeth. The trip would be completely wasted if they didn't get to Gongjiam soon. Although hesitant, he pulls the car over.  
  
“Excuse me,” he says again through Taehyun’s window. “Sorry to bother you but we’re lost and need directions.”  
  
The stranger turns around, a huge smile greeting the boys.  
  
“Yes. I would be more than happy to help you." He’s young, around the same age as them, wearing only a thin grey shirt and a pair of loose jeans. It’s a stark contrast to the other Gwangju natives bundled up in their autumn gear.  
  
“Can you, um,” Seunghoon hesitates. He grips the gearshift. “Can you point us toward Gongjiam Hospital?”  
  
“Gongjiam Hospital?” The stranger repeats, a smile still spread across his face. “Of course. You’re actually very close. It’s just a straight drive down five more blocks and quick turn left then right at the willow tree. It’s really not far.”  
  
Seunghoon nods and glances at Taehyun, who has his eyes fixed squarely on the man’s mouth. The grin never goes away. His lips are stretched so tightly over his teeth, the more they see of it the stranger it begins to look. Seunghoon pushes away the feeling pawing at his stomach.  
  
“Well thank you so much… Sorry we didn’t get your name?”  
  
“Jihoon,” he replies with a grin and a blink.  
  
“Jihoon,” Taehyun breathes. “Is it really?”  
  
He nods, still smiling.  
  
Seunghoon shifts the car quickly into drive. “Okay. Well thank you again, Jihoon. You’ve been a huge help. We’ll be on our way—“

At that, Jihoon cranes his neck into the car with wide eyes. “Is that Kim Jinwoo in the back?”  
  
All the boys turn. Jinwoo nods. “How do you know my name?”  
  
He doesn’t reply, just gives them all one last grin before he turns and walks away. Seunghoon pulls the car away from the curb, silence drifting through the van until Seungyoon and Mino both erupt in a cacophony of questions.  
  
_“What the hell was that?!”_  
  
_“How was his name exactly like that old man we just passed? How?”_  
  
_“Did you see his smile? Don’t tell me I was the only one freaked out by his smile?”_  
  
_“This is already the freakiest night I’ve ever had….”_  
  
Head Of The Trip Planning Committee tries his best to sound unfazed. “It’s just a coincidence. I guess lots of people have that name in Gwangju.”  
  
In the back, Jinwoo fidgets with the lining of his jacket. “But how did he know my name?”  
  
“Winner must be famous in this area."  
  
“He didn’t ask about anyone else but me.”  
  
“I guess you’re more famous here than the rest of us.”

 

 

* * * 

 

 

Five blocks down, a quick left, a right at the willow tree, and the boys step out of the van and onto the gravely entrance to Gongjiam Psychiatric Hospital. They still for a moment to stare up at the towering edifice. The entire compound is one huge grey square, flanked on the sides by winding staircases. The exterior has corroded after years of disrepair and the building looks as if a child had peeled away its grey paint to reveal its steel inner workings. Black windows break up the faded façade like large eyes vacantly staring out into the night, an open invitation. Or a quiet warning. Bare trees line the outskirts of the property, scattering brown and grey leaves on the hard autumn soil.  
  
“Crap,” Mino mutters under his breath. “Oh _crap_.”  
  
Taehyun grips him by the shoulder and assures him it’s just an old building. But as night darkens over the sky in Gwangju, Gongjiam seems to take on a life of its own. Before Mino and Seungyoon can run back to the car Seunghoon leads them toward the back entrance of the hospital grounds where most of the blogs had sited an easy trespass entry point. The boys walk with only the sounds of crunching autumn leaves between them. As they reach the back fence, Seunghoon takes them through a narrow opening where they have to practically crawl and limbo to avoid being scratched by the wiry rebar. They all share a look before they walk inside.  
  
The boys move slowly through the first floor, holding their breath. There are old cartoon books scattered on the rotting floors, examination tables laid empty and rusty, offices with jackets and white coats still hanging off the hooks on the doors. White boards and sticky notes with personal messages, most saying the hospital should be abandoned and evacuated as soon as possible. Seunghoon hands a flashlight to each one of them when they enter the dining hall, where it seems someone had stacked old bed frames and set them on fire. The streams of timid white light cast large shadows behind the charred mess.  
  
“Should we split up?” Taehyun asks.  
  
“Are you kidding?!” Mino and Seungyoon exclaim in unison, jumping at the sound of each other’s voices. Taehyun snorts and lights up their frightened faces.  
  
“Yes, I was kidding. Don’t freak out.”  
  
Mino’s eyes go wide. “You’re telling us not to freak out? When we’re standing in the middle of a haunted insane asylum on Halloween?!”   
  
“It’s not haunted, okay?” Taehyun rolls his eyes for what feels like the fifth time. “I did research of my own and there isn’t some paranormal or sinister reason this place was shut down. It was forced to close mainly due to economic downturns, unsanitary conditions, and problems with the sewage disposal system. As the sewage problem grew, the owner left the country and didn’t leave documentation behind about the land or the buildings on it. So eventually the hospital just closed down and the people left it abandoned.”  
  
“Every haunted place as a rational backstory to it. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s creepy and it doesn’t change the fact that we’re here on Halloween. We’re tempting the fates,” Mino shakes his head.  
  
“It’s not even Halloween. It’s October 30th. Technically it’s the eve of Hallow’s Eve.”  
  
“Okay, well we need to get the hell out of here before midnight then because I do not want to be in here on Halloween.”  
  
“Are you saying you’re not enjoying this right now?!” Flashlight beams dance over to Seunghoon whose eyes are absolutely lit up. He looks ecstatic. “Look at my arms! Look at these goose bumps!”  
  
Mino runs his hands over Seunghoon’s skin and shudders.  
  
“You’re weird, dude. You are so strange.”  
  
Seunghoon shrugs Mino’s hands off and nods his head toward the far exit of the dining hall. “Let's go look some more. This is what Halloween’s about.”  
  
Taehyun follows quickly while Mino and Seungyoon drag their feet along. Their ears perk up in an attempt to listen for any strange noises. As they reach the far exit Seungyoon’s voice pierces through the room almost at a whisper.  
  
“Jinwoo-hyung? What are you doing?”  
  
The boys turn around to find Jinwoo still standing near the entrance of the hall, facing away from them and staring at a wall. Completely still.  
  
“Jinwoo-hyung?” Seungyoon says again, louder this time. “Hyung?”  
  
He glances back at the other boys, concern lining their furrowed brows, before he takes ginger steps toward the other side of the room. The boys’ flashlights illuminate his way. After a few tense moments of silence, he carefully places his hand on Jinwoo’s shoulder and turns his hyung around. Jinwoo’s eyes flick up and he shakes his head. “Sorry.”  
  
“What’s going on? What’re you doing?”  
  
“Nothing, I just….” He looks around. “I just thought I heard something.”  
  
“You okay?”  
  
He nods and makes his way over to the other boys. They reach out to make sure he’s okay before they move out of the dining hall and down another long corridor. Their flashlights streak across the walls until they come upon a dark, rippling font near the top of a staircase. Mino and Seungyoon both send out blood-curdling screams that echo off the walls. The word _**KILL**_ towers above them.  
  
“Holy _shit_!” Mino sounds terrified. Seunghoon reaches out to grab him by the shoulders and pull him into a one-sided hug.  
  
“Think about it, Mino. A Korean ghost that knows how to write in English?”  
  
“Maybe it’s a foreign patient!”  
  
“Shut up,” Taehyun laughs and, surprisingly, Seungyoon lets out a chortle too. On the opposite side, they spot footprints gliding up the wall as if someone had taken their shoes off to make ghostly marks. The tension in Mino’s chest eases.  
  
“More than a thousand people break in every year,” Taehyun explains as they make their way upstairs. “The truth is that it’s just a rickety old building and people try to make things scarier than it is.”  
  
At the end of the stairs, they pass through a hallway and decide to step into what looks like a large communal patient room. Seunghoon searches the walls for more messages but there are no huge warnings of death or despair, just mangled up steel from hospital beds and more grime lining the walls.  
  
“It’s not as creepy as I thought it would be,” he mutters. Just then, his flashlight picks up a strange sparkle near the edge of a corner bed. He crouches down to see what it is. Carefully, he takes the pad of his thumb and runs it against the wall to wipe off some of the built up dirt until he can see what’s etched underneath.

 

 

 

> _The only dreams that aren’t lies are nightmares._

  
  
He reads it a few times, a strange kind of chill running along his spine, before he shakes his head and moves to join the rest of the group.  
  
“Find anything interesting?” Seungyoon asks when he’s back. He shakes his head.

 

Further down the corridor they find a room completely vacant of furniture. They shine their flashlights in but can only catch a vague shadowy mass near the window. Seunghoon shoves Mino in the ribs. “Your turn.”

  
“What?” Mino shoves him back.  
  
“You said you’ve had experience with shadow masses. Go over there and see what it is.”  
  
“Hell no—“ But before Mino can object any further, the three other boys push him into the room with resigned giggles. He staggers over to the window, no longer afraid but definitely feeding off the fun energy of doing something creepy. He quickly flips the other boys the bird before he moves his flashlight to illuminate whatever is sitting before him. His jovial feelings melt away instantly.  
  
“It’s a make-shift grave marker,” Mino’s voice drops. A cross made of some kind of driftwood props up against the wall, surrounded by large stones and burnt out candles. Wax seeps down into the cracks in the pavement. In the middle sits a small letter. Mino reads the neat handwriting despite himself.

 

>   
>  _Mom, I miss you. You died in this godforsaken place and I’m sorry I could not save you. I’m sorry. Forgive me. I hope you are resting in peace, wherever you are.  
>  _

  
It’s different from the fake footprints and the embellished graffiti on the walls. It’s small and sincere. A grieving son on his knees, perhaps in the very room his mother died, trying to make amends with a life he would never see again. The image sears itself into Mino's mind. He swallows his fear and heads back to the boys. They eye him carefully, asking if he’s okay and quietly apologizing for pushing him.  
  
“It’s fine,” he smiles despite himself. “Let’s just keep moving.”  
  
Seungyoon leads the way to what he thinks is a library and soon they head through a set of wide double doors. They find thick bookshelves bolstered to the walls with dusting pages almost settled into the cement itself. They move off into their own corners to look through the pages and books.  
  
While thumbing through the shelves near the bottom, Seungyoon finds a leather bound book that catches his eye. To his surprise, when he opens it up he finds hand written scrawl. It’s a journal. He steadies the flashlight in his mouth so he can flip through the pages and lands on an entry dated October 17th.

>   
>  _I am technically here as a court-appointed punishment, but I am staying on my own volition. Life is dangerous and I do not wish to live in the way I used to. The court calls it homicide; everyone else calls it murder. But I loved my mother. I loved her more than anything and that is why I had to do it. All my life, she looked to me to take care of her. The day that my father walked out of our lives I stopped being her child and started being the one to take care of it all. When I lost my job, there was no hope for both of us to survive. I could not take care of her like I needed to. So I had to do it. I had to._

 

  
Seungyoon shuts the journal and practically tosses it across the room. Thick bile rises up in his throat and he backs away quickly, willing his mind to block out everything he had just read. It must be fake, right? Someone planted it there to make it all seem scarier. Nobody could actually murder their own mother.  
  
“You okay?” Taehyun’s voice makes him jump. Unknowingly, he grabs onto Taehyun’s shoulder to steady himself and feels a cold sweat creep up the nape of his neck.  
  
“Yeah I’m fine,” he breathes. “I just want to get out of this room.”  
  
Sensing something amiss, Taehyun guides Seungyoon over to where Mino and Seunghoon stand outside. “Let’s hit one more room then we can get out of here. My eyes are starting to hurt from the dark.”  
  
The last room they go into seems to be a doctor’s office. A small desk overlooks a spacious window and large file cabinets line the entirety of the far wall. There’s a white coat hanging off the dilapidated desk chair and patient files scattered on everything.  
  
“They really left this place in a rush. Look at this, they left all this confidential patient information out in the open.” Taehyun picks up a dated blue folder and flips it open. “Jesus,” he breathes. “This is Park Jaebum’s file.”  
  
“ _The_ Park Jaebum?” Seunghoon asks and moves to flank Taehyun. They both reread the name on file and gasp. “There were rumors that he checked himself into a mental health facility after his scandal but I didn’t think they were true.”  
  
“One of the most famous indie artists disappears off the face of the planet, it makes sense he would check himself into someplace like this and want to keep it a secret.” Taehyun mutters and flips through the rest of the file. There are pages and pages of therapy session transcripts. He reads them aloud.

 _ **Dr. Kang** : Why are you here? Why did you willingly check yourself in? _  
_**Park Jaebum** : Have you ever stepped back and realized what you had been working for your entire life amounted to nothing? What you thought you had a passion for, what made life worth living wasn’t what you thought it was? Have you ever lost your will to live because you just felt like it was all a waste? _  
_**Dr. Kang** : Is that what you felt like? _  
_**Park Jaebum** : Being a musician turned out to be nothing like I expected. That’s why I’m here…._  
  
Taehyun trails off, a thick feeling coating his stomach and gripping his throat. He drops the file on the desk. “I think that’s enough of that. Wouldn’t want to invade his privacy or something.”  
  
It's a heady emotion that kicks him in the gut, but it's neither the time nor place to acknowledge it. He pushes past the other boys to leave the room.

 

The night has grown darker and Gongjiam has finally lost its appeal. It’s less haunted house and more boring school room. They decide it’s time to head back to Seoul. They'd been creeped out for a good while, but it was high time to hit up a good barbeque place and call it a night.  
  
They’re planning out the fastest route to their favorite restaurant when Seungyoon stops dead in his tracks and spins around.  
  
“Where’s Jinwoo-hyung?”  
  
The other boys whip around and panic settles into their stomach.  
  
“Wasn’t he with us the entire time?”  
  
“I don’t remember seeing him in the library….”  
  
“Oh fuck.”  
  
“Okay,” Seunghoon says. “Let’s just split up and try to find him. He’s here somewhere.”  
  
The boys fan out like moths from a flame and hurriedly search for their eldest hyung. Mino catches a glimpse of the makeshift grave stone again as he shines his light into every room, Seunghoon tries to settle his nerves as he bolts downstairs, Taehyun methodically searches through every nook and cranny, and Seungyoon lets the panic take over and sprints around the entire facility shouting Jinwoo’s name.  
  
Half an hour. They search for half an hour before Seunghoon yells for everyone to meet up again. They find each other at the top of the second floor staircase, breathless and in a frenzy.  
  
“Where the hell could he have gone? We checked everywhere?” Seungyoon’s voice borders on hysterical. They all stand in strained silence for a bit before Seungyoon catches a look in Taehyun’s eyes that makes him freeze. At the end of the room adjacent to them, someone stands against the window and gives just the slightest hint of a shadow.  
  
“Hyung?” Taehyun whispers almost inaudibly and moves his flashlight. It illuminates what is undoubtedly Jinwoo’s pale grey winter jacket. They all heave a sigh of relief.

“Hyung! What are you doing? We were looking everywhere for you!” They shout from outside the room, half expecting Jinwoo’s head to swivel 180 degrees like the exorcist. Instead, he gives a completely normal turn and shrugs as he makes his way back to them.  
  
“What are you guys talking about? I was right here the entire time.”  
  
“What? Didn’t you hear us looking for you?”  
  
“I didn’t hear anything,” he shakes his head and looks around.  
  
“Stop joking around. It’s not funny.”  
  
“I’m not joking.” As transparent as a person can be, it’s easy to tell he isn’t lying. The boys share a look, but before they can ask any more questions the sound of police sirens screech in the distance.  
  
“ _Fuck_. Time to go.”

 

 

***

 

 

It’s half past eleven at night when they exit the barbeque restaurant and pile into their van again. Spatterings of rain drops have just started to dot their windshield.  
  
“I think we need to get a room for the night,” Jinwoo peers up into the whirling black skies. “It’s too late to drive back and it’s dangerous with the rain. The waitress told me about a place maybe ten minutes away. She said they’d be open late if we needed somewhere to stay.”

Seunghoon picks remnants of fishcake out of his teeth with his tongue, smacking his lips before he nods.

 

 

Motel Cortez shines across a gargantuan LED sign on the front of the building. The boys gape at its sheer size as they pull into the parking lot. It’s a small motel, a little more than twenty rooms. The entire building is shaped as one huge square with bright red doors dotting three floors. The enormous florescent sign washes the entire compound in pale crimson.  
  
Seungyoon pulls his jacket tighter around himself. “Are you sure this place is safe?”  
  
“It’s safer than wandering around a strange city at midnight,” Seunghoon opens his door and gestures for everyone to come out. “We just need a place to sleep. We’ll be out of here in a few hours.”  
  
They huddle together and sprint through the rain toward the reception office. A small _ding_ and an empty desk greets them when they open the door. They blink against the sterile light inside.  
  
“Excuse me?” Seunghoon yells out toward the back room. “We’d like a room for the night.”  
  
A few more moments of silence pass before a young man emerges from the dark back room, a tight grin planted on his face. Somehow, they all keep themselves from gasping.  
  
“Jihoon?” Taehyun sounds breathless.  
  
“So nice to see you all again!”   
  
“You work here?”  
  
“I do,” he smiles wider. “I am very lucky to work here.”  
  
“What a coincidence,” Seunghoon grips the edge of Taehyun’s coat and pulls slightly, giving him a look. “Um, we just want a room to stay for the night. We don’t want to drive back to Seoul in the rain.”  
  
“Oh of course. I can help you with that,” Jihoon grins. “But just one room for all of you? That wouldn’t be comfortable. All of our rooms are equipped with two beds and that isn’t accommodating for four people.”  
  
“Five people,” Mino corrects. Jihoon’s gaze seems to shift to Jinwoo.  
  
“Oh, right.” He mouses through the old computer on the desk between them, tilting his head and nodding, though the permanent grin on his face never falters. It’s then that Taehyun realizes the sight of this is so unsettling because the smile doesn’t seem to reach his eyes. “Luckily, we have many vacancies open tonight and I can give you three rooms.”  
  
Seunghoon shakes his head. “We really don’t need three rooms. One would be enough.”  
  
“I insist,” Jihoon interjects. “You all are on your annual trip. You should relax, not be cramped up in one small hotel room together.”  
  
“How did you know this is an annual trip for us?” Taehyun asks. Jihoon turns toward him and smiles for a few moments, before letting out a small laugh.  
  
“You told me when you stopped me for directions.”  
  
The maknae looks at his hyungs, their expressions mirroring his own disbelief. “Did we?”  
  
“Three rooms for the price of one,” Jihoon throws his arms out like a television salesmen pitching the night’s product. “How does that sound?”  
  
“Well… you can’t get a better deal than that and it is getting pretty late,” Seunghoon says more to the boys than to Jihoon.  
  
“It’s a deal then!” His voice cracks from behind the desk.  
  
“Mino and I can share a room, Seungyoon and Jinwoo-hyung, and then Taehyun can get his own—“  
  
“I’d rather share one with Seungyoon,” Mino replies. Seunghoon nods.  
  
“Okay, Mino and Seungyoon. Taehyun and I. Then that leaves—“  
  
“Kim Jinwoo in the best room we have,” Jihoon grins. “That sounds like a great plan.”  
  
“I can bunk with you if you want,” Seungyoon offers.  
  
Jinwoo shakes his head and shrugs. “A room to myself would be nice.”  
  
“Did you all end up making it to Gongjiam?” Jihoon asks as he checks them into their rooms. They nod. “You should be careful,” he says through his smile. “A place like that tends to follow you.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“You may end up taking pieces of it with you or it may take parts of you, whether you know it or not,” he says quietly before he reaches for their key cards and grins. “Okay, you’re all set.”

 

  
  
The rain patters heavily on the windows as midnight strikes and the boys head to their respective rooms. They decide to spend some time in Seunghoon and Taehyun’s room before they go to bed.  
  
“Can you believe the creepy guy from the side of the road just happens to be the same guy that works at this creepy motel? If that isn’t Halloween magic then I don’t know what is,” Mino shakes his head and brings his knees to rest under his chin.  
  
“You guys are weirded out by his smile too, right?” Taehyun plops some popcorn into his mouth. “It doesn’t reach his eyes and it doesn’t go away.”  
  
“Halloween magic dude,” Mino murmurs.  
  
Seunghoon settles into his bed. “I think he’s probably creepier than Gongjiam was.”  
  
“The scariest part of that was losing hyung,” Seungyoon throws his arm around Jinwoo’s shoulders. “Where the hell did you go?”  
  
“I was right there the whole time.”  
  
“Where? In that room upstairs?”  
  
Jinwoo nods.  
  
“I must have passed that room and yelled your name like five times. It was empty.”  
  
“I was right there,” Jinwoo insists, his eyes trained on the dark brown carpet. “I swear.”  
  
They all shake their heads slightly and sigh, maybe chalk it all up to the mystique of All Hallow’s Eve.  
  
“Well, Happy Halloween everybody.” Taehyun lifts his beer up and gestures toward the clock on the bedside table that blinks 12:05AM. The rest of the boys raise a toast.

 

 

 

_Room 100_

It's one in the morning when Seunghoon feels a soft pull at his feet underneath the covers. He moans and swats his leg, grunting for Taehyun to leave him alone but it’s too late and he’s already been pulled from his slumber against his will.  
  
“What the hell, Taehyun. What do you want?” He rubs his eyes as they adjust. The darkness is heavy, even the digital clocks on the bedside tables seem to have gone out. “Hello?”  
  
The room is empty. The bed next to him is neatly made, no trace of Taehyun in sight. He jolts out of bed, rushes to the bathroom, practically kicks the door open. Nobody. The main door seems dead bolted from the outside.  
  
“What the fuck…”  
  
He pulls and pushes against the door knob as hard as he can, but nothing gives. Without warning, the lights power on and he’s knocked back in surprise. It takes a few moments for his eyes to adjust, but when they do he backs himself into the corner with a small whimper.  
  
_THE ONLY DREAMS THAT AREN’T LIES ARE NIGHTMARES. THE ONLY DREAMS THAT AREN’T LIES ARE NIGHTMARES. THE ONLY DREAMS THAT AREN’T LIES ARE NIGHTMARES. THE ONLY DREAMS THAT AREN’T LIES ARE NIGHTMARES._  
  
The room is covered in these etched words, bright white amidst the crimson walls. The door starts to rattle and Seunghoon bolts to the other side of the room with a shout. The rattling turns into a violent bangs. Panic settling into his chest, Seunghoon manages to run into the bathroom and lock the door behind him. He crouches into the tub and wraps his arms around his legs until the banging stops. A deathly kind of silence fills the room and he holds his breath.  
  
What feels like hours pass before there’s a soft click, a beep noise, and footsteps pad into the room.  
  
“Hyung?” Taehyun’s voice filters into the bathroom and Seunghoon almost collapses in on himself. He wrangles his limbs out of the tub and rushes into the main room.  
  
“Whoa,” Taehyun drops a tub of ice on the floor to steady a sweating Seunghoon. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“The walls,” he breathes out, eyes wide. They dance across the room in disbelief. “The walls….”  
  
“What about them?”  
  
They’re clean. Absolutely pristine. No words etched into them at all. The clocks on the bedside table glow a bright green again and Taehyun’s bed is mussed and disheveled.

"What the fuck..."  
  
“What’s up, hyung?” Taehyun asks again and Seunghoon just shakes his head.  
  
“I must be more drunk than I thought,” he murmurs and looks around again. “You were getting ice this whole time?”  
  
Taehyun nudges the melting cubes across the carpet with a wry laugh. "Obviously."   
  
“Alright. Then I’m just drunk and I really need to get some sleep,” Seunghoon moves toward his bed slowly.  
  
“You sure you’re okay?”  
  
He wraps himself in his covers and nods. “I’m fine.”  
  
“Well, thanks to you I dropped all the ice so I have to go back and get more. Just… call me if you need anything.”  
  
Seunghoon grunts from underneath the covers while Taehyun slips out again. At the end of the first floor hallway lies the amenities room, equipped with an ice machine and two vending machines. He starts tossing ice cubes into their small gold-rimmed bucket, the image of Seunghoon's terrified eyes still flittering along the edge of his mind. Seunghoon wasn't one to have weird hallucinations when he was drunk. Most of the time he just danced a little then fell asleep.   
  
“Hello Taehyun,” an airy voice says from the door and Taehyun spins around in surprise. It’s Jihoon, with his trademark smile.  
  
“Hi. What are you doing up so late?”  
  
“Oh, this is my job. Just making sure all of our guests’ needs are met. Is everything okay?”  
  
“Yeah. Just needed some ice for a drink.”  
  
“Okay,” Jihoon says through gritted teeth. “You just let me know if you need anything.”  
  
Taehyun shifts on the balls of his feet, weighing an idea in his head. He tosses more ice into his bucket and pauses for a moment before he lets the words out into the air.  
  
“Do you always smile like that? Is it a company policy?”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“This,” Taehyun mimics his toothy grin. “Is that personal choice or part of the job too?”  
  
Jihoon makes a noise at the back of his throat and the tips of his mouth fall downward a bit. His brows furrow.  
  
“No, I did not always smile like this. I guess you can say Motel Cortez had a large hand in why I’m this way.”  
  
“What does that mean?”  
  
“Just be careful.” Jihoon’s cheeks fall and for the first time, his smile disappears. It sends shivers down Taehyun’s spine. “Be very careful.”  
  
They stand staring at each other for a few long moments, the rumble of the vending machine punctuating the silence before Jihoon pulls a grin across his face again.  
  
“It can get really slippery around the ice machine so be careful.” And with that, he turns on his heel and disappears into the night. Taehyun grips onto the table nearby, only then becoming acutely aware of how much he’s shaking.

 

 

 

 

 

_Room 103_

It’s one in the morning when Mino gets a call from his sister. He puts the phone to his ear and barely registers what comes through on the other line.  
  
“What? Say that again. I can’t understand you.”  
  
“Mom is dead,” her voice crackles through the line, sounding almost completely detached. Mino feels the wind get knocked out of his chest.  
  
“What?”  
  
“She’s _dead_ , Mino. She’s gone.”  
  
“What are you talking about?!”  
  
“She’s dead! She’s gone! Mom’s dead!”  
  
He tries to get up, but the room spins and his head hits his pillow again, knocking the phone out of his hand and onto the floor. The florescent light goes out and the room steeps itself in silence.  
  
“Mino?” Seungyoon’s sleepy voice comes from the other side of the room. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I don’t know, dude. I have no idea what’s fucking going on.”  
  
“What happened?”  
  
“I can’t move, Seungyoon. I can’t breathe—“  
  
Seungyoon jolts out of bed and rushes toward Mino, picking up the cellphone and handing it to him. He places his hands on Mino’s shoulders and tries to get his breathing pattern back to normal.  
  
“What happened? Mino, talk to me.”  
  
“The phone call!” He feels like he’s chasing breath. “The phone call! Fuck! My sister called and— _Jesus_ —“  
  
“What phone call?” Seungyoon helps Mino into the sitting position and searches his eyes. “What are you talking about?”  
  
“The phone call I had just now!”  
  
“You didn’t have a phone call….” Seungyoon leans back and traces his eyes across Mino’s face. “I didn’t hear you on the phone with anyone.”  
  
“What are you talking about? My sister just called me,” Mino regains the strength in his hands and unlocks his phone, clicking quickly to his missed calls. But the last one that comes up is Seunghoon’s number. He rubs his eyes, sure he’s seeing the wrong thing. “What…”  
  
“I heard a huge thump from over here and saw your phone hit the wall like you’d thrown it, but I didn’t hear you talking to anyone.”  
  
Mino stares at Seungyoon for a long while, trying to sort his thoughts out. Was he dreaming? If he was, wouldn’t he remember waking up? He scrolls through his contacts until he reaches his sister’s number.  
  
She sounds more than half asleep.  
  
“Danah?” He grips the phone so tightly his knuckles go white.  
  
“Yeah? Why are you calling so late? It’s like one in the morning? Is everything okay?”  
  
“Is everything okay with you? How’s mom?” Despite himself, the panic in his voice is clear. It sets Danah off too.  
  
“What? Mom is fine. She’s in her bed sleeping.”  
  
“Are you sure? Can you go check on her?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Please Danah,” Mino brings his hands up to his face. “Please.”  
  
His tone makes her pause for a moment, before she agrees and puts the phone down to quietly check in on the other room. He holds his breath until she comes back.  
  
“She’s fine. She’s sleeping like a baby.”  
  
He gives a huge sigh, one that makes his shoulders hurt. “And you didn’t just call me right now?”  
  
“No. I was asleep until _you_ called me.”  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
“Mino, what is this about?”  
  
He glances up, the confusion in Danah's voice mirrored perfectly on Seungyoon's face. “Nothing. Sorry. I guess I just had a weird… dream. Sorry to wake you up.”  
  
The siblings hang up after a few more whispered conversations and Seungyoon takes up a space at the end of Mino’s bed, trying to figure out what exactly happened.  
  
“The conversation seemed so real, Seungyoon. I almost had a panic attack,” Mino says with his head still in his hands. “Danah said that our mom was dead.”  
  
Seungyoon leans back against the bed post, chin in hand. “It must’ve been a dream.”  
  
“Yeah, I guess. But I don’t remember waking up or anything. It was the phone call, I dropped the phone, and then you started talking.”  
  
Seungyoon shakes his head and shrugs. "You woke up in a panic. You were confused."

"Right... My head just wasn't in the right place?"

“You know, when we were in the library at Gongjiam I read a journal entry from one of the patients,” Seungyoon starts fingering the soft linen of Mino’s sheets. “It talked about killing his own mom because he couldn’t take care of her.”  
  
Mino shivers before he lets out a small gagging noice. “Oh god…”  
  
“Yeah,” Seungyoon shakes his head. “Isn’t that the creepiest thing ever?”  
  
“What did Jihoon mean when he said people can take places like Gongjiam away with them?”  
  
But before Seungyoon can even think up an answer, they hear a scream from the room next door. When the realization settles in that it’s Jinwoo’s room, Seungyoon bolts out of Mino’s bed and across the hall. The screams get more desperate.  
  
“Hyung!” He pounds on the door. “Hyung, open up!” He shoots a glance down the hall, wondering why none of the other boys have come out to help and spots Jinwoo’s key card tucked under the room’s welcome mat.  
  
In the dark, Jinwoo’s bed shakes with a strange intensity and Seungyoon can see his limbs contorting underneath the covers. He rushes over and grips him by the shoulder.  
  
“Hyung, wake up! Hyung!” Jinwoo’s shirt is soaked through with sweat. Seungyoon throws the covers off and shakes him as hard as he can. “Hyung!”  
  
Jinwoo’s eyes stay shut, his brows knit together as if he’s in pain and his mouth pulled into a grimace. The shouts have tempered into subdued grunts and moaning, but he won’t wake up. Something is wrong.  
  
Seungyoon runs out of the room and toward the main office, hoping Jihoon has a quick way to contact the authorities but when he gets inside he finds an empty desk. Pushing past the **DO NOT ENTER** sign taped onto the side entrance of the main office, he runs into the back room to see if anyone is there. It’s just an empty room with dusting office supplies. The panic he’d beaten into submission begins to grip his neck and he chokes, trying hard to inhale.  
  
“Fuck…” He grips his chest to steady himself before he bolts out of the main office and runs down the hall toward their rooms again. _Get my phone, call the police, get my phone, call the police, get my phone, call the police_ , he chants to himself as a sort of calming mantra. _It’s going to be okay. Jinwoo is fine.  
_  
With shaky hands, he inserts the key card into his room door but catches something at the corner of his eye. He blinks a few times to make sure the dark isn’t deceiving him.

Two shadowed figures stand at the end of the hallway.  _Don’t go any closer_. His better judgment tells him. But he screws his better judgment and moves to get a closer look. The night is thick and the lights meant to illuminate the red motel doors cast long shadows along the entire corridor. Seungyoon wraps his arms around himself to stop shaking.  
  
“Hello?” He tries a steady voice. “Is someone there?”  
  
The two at the end of the hall seem to turn toward him, though they don’t respond.  
  
“Jinwoo-hyung? Is that you?”  
  
“It is,” a familiar voice responds and Seungyoon stop in his tracks. Jihoon steps into the light, his grin taking on a strange shadow under the red lights. He pulls Jinwoo out beside him. Seungyoon stares.  
  
“What’s going on?”  
  
“I heard Jinwoo’s screams and went to make sure he was okay.”  
  
“How did you get into his room?”  
  
“It was already open.”  
  
Jinwoo blinks up at Seungyoon, eyes confused, before he moves into his arms. He’s still covered in a cold sweat. Seungyoon gives him a small hug before he pulls him at arm’s length to have a long, hard look.  
  
“Are you sure you’re okay?”  
  
Jinwoo nods, gripping slightly at Seungyoon’s arms. “I had this crazy dream. I don’t even remember much of it, but I was by myself. All four of you were gone and I was alone in this strange building. All by myself. I couldn’t find anyone.”  
  
“I’m here,” Seungyoon wipes the sweat off his forehead. “Don’t worry. I’m here. We’re all here.”  
  
“You two should head back to bed,” Jihoon smiles and nods toward their rooms.  
  
“Yeah, it’s getting late.” Jinwoo pulls away but Seungyoon holds his wrist tight.  
  
“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t want me to bunk with you for the night?”  
  
“I’m alright.” He taps Seungyoon twice on the chest with an open palm. “Don’t worry. It was just a bad dream.”  
  
Reluctantly, Seungyoon loses his grip on Jinwoo’s wrist and sticks his key card into his lock. It makes a soft click, beep noise. He heaves in a deep breath and takes one last glance over to where his hyung stands. Jinwoo gives him a small smile and lifts his hand as if to wave all of Seungyoon’s worries away. Jihoon grins from just behind him.  
  
Seungyoon takes a moment to weigh his options before he slights his better judgment again and steps into his room. Mino lies almost motionless, sending soft snores into the air. The door lets out a quiet thump behind him and Seungyoon feels as if his entire existence begins to sag into itself from exhaustion. He crawls into bed and falls into a fitful night of sleep.

 

 

In the morning, the boys meet at the main office to check out. Hoodies pulled tight over their faces and limbs heavy, it’s evident none of them had a good night’s sleep. They communicate in small grunts as they make their way to the reception desk. To their surprise a young woman in a nice tailored uniform and neat bun up-do greets them with a warm smile.  
  
“Good morning! Are you all checking out?”  
  
They nod and hand over their key cards.  
  
“Thank you so much for staying the night with us. There is complimentary coffee and donuts right over by the door. I hope your stay was enjoyable,” she rattles off smoothly as her eyes dance over her computer screen. A few clicks and signatures and the boys are ready to go.  
  
On their way out, Seungyoon pauses and turns around. “Are you all required to wear that uniform?”  
  
She gives him a small smile and nods. “Yes, it’s a work uniform. Why do you ask?”  
  
“I just realized Jihoon wasn’t wearing it last night. He had on a grey shirt and jeans.”  
  
“Jihoon?” She says quietly, head tilted and brows furrowed. “Huh.”  
  
Seungyoon arches his eyebrows in a silent question.  
  
“It’s just… I can’t think of any Jihoon that works here." She stares off into the distance for another moment before she shrugs and smiles. “Maybe he’s new and I just haven’t met him. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t have a uniform yet.”  
  
Seungyoon’s nape begins to tingle. He looks around the room before he shakes his head and picks up a donut. “Well anyway, thanks for the good service. I appreciate it.”  
  
“No problem,” she smiles and waves. “Thank you so much for staying at Motel Cortez.”

 

The other boys have already sleepily piled into the car by the time Seungyoon gets outside and Seunghoon is rushing him into the van with dramatic gesticulations. He jumps into the second row passenger seat and hands Mino the donut.  
  
“What took you so long?”  
  
Seungyoon shrugs, staring up at the bright red doors of Motel Cortez for a moment. Maybe it was just Halloween magic. Maybe it should all stay a Halloween secret. “I was just grabbing some donuts.”  
  
The car engine roars to life and the boys sink into comfortable silence in their seats.  
  
“Did you guys have weird dreams last night?” Seunghoon stretches his neck and looks at them through the rearview mirror.  
  
“You too?” Mino asks with a yawn. Taehyun and Seungyoon nod, eyes glazed over.   
  
“I had to go into hyung’s room because he was screaming at the top of his lungs.”  
  
“You did?” Mino asks. “When was that?”  
  
“Don’t you remember? It was right after that weird thing that happened with your phone.”  
  
Mino shakes his head. “I just remember us both falling asleep after the phone thing.”  
  
Seungyoon stares at him in disbelief.  
  
“Strange night, wasn’t it?” Seunghoon says quietly. They all nod, glancing up at the neon Motel Cortez sign.  
  
“Are you alright now, hyung?”   
  
Jinwoo shifts his gaze from the window and turns toward the other boys. “I am completely fine.”   
  
There’s a huge grin plastered on his face. The kind that doesn’t reach his eyes.

 

 

______________


End file.
